Middlesbrough will be looking for yet another major FA Cup scalp when they welcome Chelsea to the Riverside Stadium for their quarter-final tie on Saturday night with kickoff at 20:15.
Middlesbrough have been among the giant killers in the cup this season, with the side knocking out Manchester United in the fourth round on penalties at Old Trafford. They followed the success up with another good showing against Tottenham in the last-16, bundling them out of the competition in the extra time with a 1-0 victory.
They will be looking to pull another major upset here as they aim at extending their Cup life and will draw confidence from their last two Cup matches and their fine home form, having won all their last nine matches at Riverside across all competitions.
Boro warmed up for the Saturday encounter with a 2-0 confidence-boosting victory against Birmingham in the Championship last Tuesday night. The victory saw them get their playoff bid back on track and will now focus on making an appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2005-06 campaign.
However, a tough Chelsea side stands in their way and attempting to get one over the European champions will slightly be a different encounter compared to an inconsistent Man United or Tottenham side.
The Blues were forced to fight from two goals behind to book a place in the quarter finals as they saw off Luton Town in a 3-2 thrilling victory at away early this month. Ever since Chelsea have won all their four games across all competitions and are coming off a 2-1 win against Lille at away, booking their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with 4-1 victory on aggregate.
Chelsea seems to be little affected by the ongoing off-field mess that has plunged the very future of the club in doubt. They continue to put in impressive performances and have now all their last five matches in a row across all competitions and will be looking to extend that run on Saturday night.
Chelsea will fancy their chances of making it to the last four of the competitions for the third consecutive season on Saturday as they have good record over Middlesbrough having won all of their last eight meetings.
Middlesbrough vs Chelsea head to head
Both sides have met in 30 encounters since 1995 with Chelsea claiming 20 victories while Middlesbrough have claimed five victories and there have also been five draws.
- Chelsea 3-0 Middlesbrough 08/05/17
- Middlesbrough 0-1 Chelsea 20/11/16
- Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea 27/02/13
- Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough 28/01/09
- Middlesbrough 0-5 Chelsea 18/10/08
Home
- Birmingham 0-2 Middlesbrough
- Millwall 0-0 Middlesbrough
- Sheffield 4-1 Middlesbrough
- Middlesbrough 2-1 Luton
- Middlesbrough 1-0 Tottenham
Away
- Lille 1-2 Chelsea
- Chelsea 1-0 Newcastle
- Norwich 1-3 Chelsea
- Burnley 0-4 Chelsea
- Luton 2-3 Chelsea
Middlesbrough team news
Boro have no fresh concerns to contend with, though, Andraz Sporar and James Lea Siliki are doubts due to illness.
Chelsea team news
Chelsea will still remain without a Ben Chilwell who continues his long road to recovery, while Andreas Christensen was withdrawn after 33 minutes against Lille due to a suspected muscular problem, and the Dane is highly unlikely to be risked for the quarter-final.
Prediction and odds
- Chelsea win
- Both sides to score (no)
- Goals under 2.5
